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MIT engineers have designed and flown the first-ever plane with no moving parts. The lightweight aircraft is powered by an "ionic wind" — a strong flow of ions produced aboard the plane generates enough thrust to propel the plane over a sustained flight. Unlike turbine-powered planes, the aircraft does not depend on fossil fuels to fly; and unlike propeller-driven drones, the design is silent. In a paper published in Nature, the MIT team describes how they created the "electroaerodynamic-powered plane" — one that uses solid-state propulsion (no propellers, or engines with expendable fuel). The team says the new "ion drive" technology could power silent drones.

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